I wouldn't claim Lee as the father of mixed martial arts. Nor would I say he had a pivotal role in the development of the sport. On an individual level though he did influence a lot of fighters and got a lot of people into martial arts through his movies and physical abilities. He crossed trained in different styles and opened the doors for martial arts to be taught in America.I think that's Lee's legacy and maybe i'm wrong here but I feel this is the need to keep Lee relevant in the martial arts world today. Not that he isn't,I still love watching his movies even today,but I feel calling him the father of mixed martial arts is a dis-service to the athletes that truly did pioneer the way.

Of course their are fighters that would even disagree with this. I think Randy Couture has gone on record as saying Lee was as well.

Didn't read the article butIs there a true "father" of MMA? I don't really think so. Bruce Lee was a master at a number of arts, but not MIXED martial arts. As far as I'm aware Lee didn't have any extensive training in grappling. Similar can be said for Royce and most of his family for lack of striking ability.

I wouldn't claim Lee as the father of mixed martial arts. Nor would I say he had a pivotal role in the development of the sport. On an individual level though he did influence a lot of fighters and got a lot of people into martial arts through his movies and physical abilities. He crossed trained in different styles and opened the doors for martial arts to be taught in America.I think that's Lee's legacy and maybe i'm wrong here but I feel this is the need to keep Lee relevant in the martial arts world today. Not that he isn't,I still love watching his movies even today,but I feel calling him the father of mixed martial arts is a dis-service to the athletes that truly did pioneer the way.

Of course their are fighters that would even disagree with this. I think Randy Couture has gone on record as saying Lee was as well.

I do agree on the individual level, because bruce lee was the inspiration for a lot of fighters today. I'm pretty sure I've heard bas rutten and GSP both said they saw one of his movies and they were was hooked esp since they both grew up with bullies.

Its hard to say who actually started but he was the 1st guy to make it big hence why ppl argue him,

Didn't read the article butIs there a true "father" of MMA? I don't really think so. Bruce Lee was a master at a number of arts, but not MIXED martial arts. As far as I'm aware Lee didn't have any extensive training in grappling. Similar can be said for Royce and most of his family for lack of striking ability.

I would disagree on one point mainly because he was on of the 1st pioneer in taking different martial arts and making it more practical to fighting; so more of an mixed martial art.

I have heard though he has some grappling training from these guys, mainly in judo and then incorporated into his own style: Wally Jay, Gene LeBell and Hayward Nishioka. I got these names from another forum so dk how much truth there is to it

Bruce Lee is not the father of mma, because he never competed in active competition. MMA is a sport, not a martial art, therefore you need someone who applied practical knowledge in mma like competition. The earliest incarnation I can think of, that really made this apparent were perhaps the Gracies, simply because they voluntarily challenged and accepted challenges from many different disciplines, but they themselves never perfected their skills in striking until later generations. The first stand out I can think of, that really pushed the sporting aspect of having multi dimensional skillsets was Antonio Inoki.

None of these people are the fathers of MMA. All Martial Arts are Mixed Martial Arts. All arts derive from various inside and outside influences. Some of these influences even come from the animal world. It is all MMA. As far as Bruce goes, the founder of my system (Liu Seong Kuntao) Master Willem Reeders (Chinese name Liu Seong) was one the the teachers Bruce sought out when he moved to America as Reeders had moved here a few years before Bruce. Bruce was well aware of Reeders' skill and knowledge. There are many "theories" as to what Reeders taught Bruce but one thing is certain....Bruce eventually changed his philosophies of martial arts to encompass many styles and he also changed the name of his art from Jun Fan Kung Fu to Jeet Kune Do. Kune means fist and Do means way. This is the Cantonese way of saying "Kuntao" which was the name of Master Reeders' art. Liu Seong Kuntao isn't strictly Kuntao....it is an amalgamation of several Chinese, Indonesian and Japanese arts. Master Reeders was doing what Bruce was doing long before Bruce. Bruce is definitely not the father of MMA nor is anyone on the poll. All martial arts are MMA as l said previously...they are all influenced by other arts and they all draw techniques and concepts from other arts. It is all MMA.

Last edited 7/18/12 4:31PM server time by Sir_KarlEdit note/reason: n/a